The Office
by meepers369
Summary: AU. Ino can’t help but feel miffed regarding Shikamaru’s duty to escort the Chicago representative, Temari, around the office. ShikaIno
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** The Office, 1/?

**Author:** meepers369

**Summary:** AU. Ino can't help but feel miffed regarding Shikamaru's duty to escort the Chicago representative around the office.

…

Oh, she thinks dully. So this is how a heart breaks.

It was quite interesting, she supposes, to actually experience the physiological reactions she had studied in so much detail as a psychology major. Not that the science is important at all now. With Shikamaru in a _shopping mall_, of all places, and that Temari hanging clingingly to his arm, nothing from her years of study at college could ever prepare her for this clenching feeling in her chest.

"Ino?" She turns around to see Chouji, coming out of a bakery, with concerned and slightly confused look on his face. "Are you alright? Why are you just standing there-"

"Nothing's wrong." Ino strode briskly away. Chouji's eyes widened in understanding as he saw Shikamaru, and hurriedly trailed after Ino.

...

The office had been abuzz with the news that a Chicago branch representative would be coming to observe their office. "Apparently, even though they're one of the more successful branches of our company, they are also pretty famous for having a cold and hostile work atmosphere," Sakura confided to Ino during their lunch break. As assistant to their branch manager, Tsunade, Sakura had access to many interesting tidbits of information that no one else knew. "The representative is supposed to come and take notes on how we operate." Sakura slyly looked at Ino.

"Tsunade's also asked Shikamaru to accompany the rep around the office. Are you okay with that?"

"What? Why wouldn't I be?" It made sense, Ino thought. As strategic manager of their branch, Shikamaru would probably be able to get information on why the Chicago branch was so successful, and incorporate it into their operations. "Sounds like the perfect assignment to actually have that lazy bum working."

"_Because_," Sakura huffed impatiently. "It's not just ANY representative. She's a _girl_." Ino stiffened slightly. Sakura smiled triumphantly at the slight reaction. "She's the sister of Gaara, that guy who is the youngest to ever become branch manager. Apparently she's the one responsible for the success of the branch, being an incredibly daring operations manager."

"Then why is she coming here, if she's so important to their branch," Ino said crossly. Sakura laughed.

"I guess she wanted to see exactly how their branch is lacking personally. From what descriptions of her personality I could find, she's very forceful, and dislikes imperfection."

"Whatever. We'll see how she's really like when she gets here."

…

A few days later, Tsunade called a meeting of all the employees to welcome the Chicago representative. The girl, Temari, smiled politely and responded simply to greetings. Her smile, Ino decided, had a bored and slightly presumptuous look to it. "No wonder their branch is known for a cold atmosphere if she's the one responsible for creating it!" Ino whispered to Sakura.

During afternoon break, as always, Ino met with Chouji and Shikamaru. They had been firm friends since childhood, and when luck allowed them to work at the same company, they kept a tradition of meeting to chat and exchange stories, despite working in different departments.

"So how did your day go, escorting that Chicago representative around?" Ino tensed at the question.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru scowled. "She wanted to read the employee manuals that we pass out. I didn't do much escorting, just sat around as she read every little detail and questioned me on _why_ the branch had so-and-so policies, _why_ they differed from the main branch's recommendations, _why_ Tsunade endorses this, _how_ exactly did each difference result in a better outcome. I felt like I was in college taking the most ridiculous test on readings that I never did!"

Ino smiled. Shikamaru was rarely annoyed to the extent of complaining so much. She relaxed and playfully said, "It's a good thing you're the smartest out of all of us, then!" He scowled at her, but she only grinned back.

"Also, I might not be able to always meet you guys for afternoon break for the next few days," he sighed. Both Chouji and Ino started at that. Shikamaru always tried to meet them, even at his busiest. "From the schedule that Ms. Representative spent all lunch composing…there's hardly a break in there for the next few days. And dumb Tsunade specifically ordered me to accompany that girl _everywhere_." At that, said girl of conversation poked her head in the door of the lounge. Seeing Shikamaru, she strode briskly in.

"_There_ you are, you lazy bum! I need you to give me a list of all the important employees in this branch, so I can plan out whom to talk to in the next few weeks without wasting too much time talking to unnecessary people." With a curt nod to Chouji and Ino, she walked out, holding on to one of Shikamaru's arms. He waved to his two friends with his free hand, smiling dryly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** The Office, 2/?

**Author:** meepers369

**Summary:** AU. Ino can't help but feel miffed regarding Shikamaru's duty to escort the Chicago representative around the office.

In the next few weeks, Temari was everywhere in the office, watching, asking countless questions, and constantly scribbling in her monster of a notebook. Shikamaru lagged behind her like a shadow, patiently answering the questions that Temari would often ask. In fact, her questions often tended to criticize rather than for the purpose of observing and learning.

"She asked me how Tsunade ever let me dye my hair pink," Sakura drily told Ino over lunch. "Doesn't that bright color distract others in the workplace? I told her it was what contributed to the cheery atmosphere." Ino giggled.

"Her hair is the strange one," said Ino. "Though I do have to admit, your pinkness does distract me when I'm on your floor, it's like a beacon, calling out, come to me, gossip with me…"

"Shut up!" Sakura laughed, swirling the smoothie in her hand. "She also questioned Shizune's taste in table décor. 'The pig plushies are very cute…but are they really necessary? Shouldn't your worktable be simplified to best facilitate work?' You should have seen Shizune's face! She had no idea how to answer that one. Shikamaru had to pull her away!"

"Ha! Pulling her away? Shikamaru always knew how to be smooth with girls," Ino remarked. Sakura smiled knowingly.

…

"Human resources was interesting today," Chouji told Ino the next afternoon. "You should have seen how excited Gai was to have a new face in the department. He and Lee did their whole 'Dynamic Duo Welcome' and startled the poor girl so badly that she slapped them. I don't think she's ever seen so much excitement in her life!" Ino gasped in disbelief, and then laughed.

"She actually _slapped_ them? I wish I was there to see that!" Gai and Lee were certainly very…overly enthusiastic to the point of being annoying sometimes, but to actually hit them? They were sweet people, especially that Lee, and everyone in the office loved them (after a while). Ino still kept that painstakingly-made paper bouquet from her promotion party the two had thrown for her on her desk.

"Oh, she apologized right afterwards, of course, and was really embarrassed, the poor girl. Gai and Lee of course took no offense, and took her on the Grand Tour around our little office areas and even took her into our Grand Meeting Room and told her about the Grand Plans for the next Super Secret But Totally Cool Company Excellence Event."

"So what are the Grand Plans?" Ino asked teasingly. Chouji only shook his head, smiling.

"You won't even be able to ask Shikamaru what went on in there," he told her. "Gai made him stand outside, made Temari 'swear to the super secretness upon the honor of the saints of secrets' to keep everything said inside a secret. She took him very seriously." Chouji's voice turned more serious. "I quite like that about her."

"Really? What do you mean?" Ino asked curiously. Chouji was very observant, especially regarding people. She always loved to hear his opinions, which were always as invaluable insights on each individual.

"Well, she is very serious about her work—you can tell she's a hard worker. She's very thorough, stays calm, collected, and cool, and has a very professional attitude about everything. It's easy to see how she brought the Chicago branch so far, just being around and talking to her makes you want to work harder to match her level. I guess talking to her, she just gives off such a professional and serious aura, that you can't help but be more serious about work, too. But…" Chouji shook his head.

"She's a little too serious. It's as if she forgot how to enjoy herself." Chouji paused. "Shikamaru said they'll be going to sales tomorrow. Naruto will probably soften her up a bit; he's got a strange way with people."

"Naruto?" Ino exclaimed doubtfully. "More like, she'd hit him too! Well, I guess he's not as excitable as Gai or Lee." Chouji just laughed.

...

"That Temari girl came by sales today." Tenten, Ino's roommate, looked exhausted. Ino hastily heated up a few things in the microwave for Tenten, who had home much later than Ino from working overtime. "And as soon as she came, she just had to tick off Naruto. 'How could you let the noise level be so high here?' she asked. 'Especially that loud blonde there, he's particularly distracting.' After that, Naruto would be louder on purpose, just to annoy her. And Kiba just laughed and laughed and laughed…" Tenten sighed, and nodded gratefully when Ino placed her dinner in front of her.

"She insisted on tagging along to a sales pitch. Naruto had to pipe up and say, 'Come with me then, and see how it's done!' I was ordered to follow along, to make sure nothing went wrong. And of course Kiba was there, since those two always work in a pair. And of course Shikamaru went along, too. What a mess of a day!"

"No more messy than a regular day for you, then," said Ino cheerfully. "After all, no one is better than you at soothing messes, aren't you?"

"Thanks." Tenten grinned. "You better watch out, though, I hear your department's next on the stop."

...

True to Tenten's statement, Temari came the next day to the marketing department where Ino was at her bossiest best, catching typos at a distance while sending interns flying for a reprint on that new advertisement. Temari strode in briskly, with Shikamaru lagging like a shadow behind. Ino noted, with slight satisfaction, that he looked even more annoyed than the first day. Not that she resented him for spending so much time with Temari or anything. It was just unfair that he'd missed their afternoon meeting for three days straight, thus he deserved any misery that came with that.

"Hello, Ms. Yamanaka." Temari sat in Ino's small office, back perfectly straight, hands folded neatly on the notebook in her lap. Shikamaru slouched in a nearby chair. "I've come here to observe your department today, if you don't mind the intrusion."

"Hello, Temari. Hey Shika." Ino smiled brightly. Temari let the smallest of smiles peek out in return, while Shikamaru nodded in acknowledgement. He then promptly turned to observe a fern that was beside him. Ino felt her cheeks puffing in annoyance, but schooled her features.

Chouji was right, Ino thought. Temari did give off quite a strong professional aura. Ino felt her back straighten. "Of course you can come and intrude. You'll probably be running around a lot, though, if you want to follow me. And please, call me Ino." Temari nodded curtly at that, and then allowed her eyes to wander about the office. Ino relaxed slightly without Temari's eyes piercing her. She _is_ a little too serious, thought Ino.

"You have a pig plushie, too," Temari remarked. Ino started at that statement. "And many pig-themed office supplies on your desk…is this a common theme in this branch? Does it help to have common themes at workstations?" She looked at Ino, waiting calmly for an answer. Ino felt herself straightening up again.

She's seriously asking me this question, Ino thought in amazement. How am I supposed to answer that? Ino glanced at Shikamaru, hoping for some help. He looked up from the fern he was observing, and shrugged.

"Er…not really. Shizune and I are just both really fond of pigs, I guess. My family always had a long affinity with pigs, while she has a pet pig, named TonTon. Or maybe it's actually Tsunade's, but Shizune takes care of it. We're not allowed to have pets in the office, though, so she has that plushie for here, I guess…" Ino trailed off. She realized she was babbling. Temari, however, didn't seem to notice, and nodded seriously at her explanation. She seemed to be in deep thought. Ino again marveled at Chouji's observations.

"Well, I have a meeting with my creative team in 5 minutes, so if you would like to come along…?" Temari nodded and stood up. Ino did the same, walking to the door, and was about to open it when Shikamaru quickly jumped up to hold it open for the two ladies. Ino smiled awkwardly in acknowledgement and walked out, feeling slightly foolish.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** The Office, 3/?

**Author:** meepers369

**Summary:** AU. Ino can't help but feel miffed regarding Shikamaru's duty to escort the Chicago representative around the office.

Shikamaru was impressed.

He'd never really come to Ino's department before, more often seeing her in board meetings or randomly in the office as she was running errands to other departments. And of course, for their daily afternoon break with Chouji. He really should have come here more, he realized guiltily, since marketing was so important to the company's strategic plans. But Ino was so efficient at running her department and clear and concise about the reports and results and the direction marketing was in that he never really had to bother…

She never takes a breather, he realized.

When he and Temari had come in first thing in the morning, the marketing department was already up and bustling. Shikamaru was not surprised to see Ino happily bossing interns and assistants around. He was surprised, however, by the lack of complaints and grumbles. In fact, everyone seemed perfectly willing to be ordered around by the blonde.

"Who runs this department?" Temari's questioning voice was quiet. Glancing at her, Shikamaru was again surprised, this time by the sight of a slight smile gracing the normally stoic girl's features. It was like she almost _approved_, Shikamaru realized with a start.

"Ms. Ino Yamanaka," he replied loudly. The girl of mention glanced up.

"Just a moment, please." Ino turned to give final directions to her assistants, then smiled brightly at them. After formal introductions, Ino walked to a door, holding it open for her visitors. "Please, come into my office. We'll be able to speak much more comfortably in there." Shikamaru followed Temari inside. Only after Ino had closed the door did Shikamaru realize with guilty annoyance that he should have been the one to hold the door open.

...

After settling in, Ino and Temari exchanged pleasantries while Shikamaru firmly examined a plant next to him. The office was rather small, but Ino had decorated the space nicely with flowers and a great many pig-themed office materials. Shikamaru smiled at that. He and Chouji had began that trend, buying her a stapler with cute pig-print designs along the edge for her birthday the first year they all worked together at the company. Ino had screeched and whined that how could they give a _stapler_, of all things, to a girl for her birthday. They could tell she loved it, though, from the way she smiled and carefully placed the stapler next to a small vase of flowers on her desk. The stapler was sitting there now, next to the pig mug and the pig-shaped paper clips and pig-themed handkerchief box, along with the pig plushie she had dragged around since elementary school.

Temari noticed the pigs. She commented on them, proceeding to throw one of her startling questions. Ino's paused uncertainly; Shikamaru felt rather than saw Ino throw a pleading look at him. He stifled a laugh, then looked at from his plant to give his best "don't-ask-me" look combined with a shrug. He again felt rather than saw her annoyance. Shikamaru stifled another laugh. It wouldn't be so hard to save her from Temari's awkward question, but frankly, he was curious to see how Ino would deal with it.

Shikamaru was not disappointed. He was treated to another surprise when Ino babbled on some nonsense about pigs to Temari. She was actually nervous, he realized. For the third time in ten minutes, Shikamaru had to stifle his laugh. When Ino rose to the door, he quickly jumped up to hold the door open for her. It took all of his concentration to look as bored and serious as he normally was, and only allowed himself an extremely goofy grin when Temari and Ino strode off in front of him, chatting politely.

He hadn't been so happy in _days_.

...

The meeting with Ino's creative team was nothing like he expected, either. No one was yelling, per se, but everyone was trying to raise their voice above the other, fingers pointing determinedly to their design, their idea, and their work. Shikamaru scowled. He hated these types of meetings the most, slightly surprised that Ino would let this kind of chaos happen. He glanced at her. She was sitting at the head of the table, head slightly tilted, listening and watching carefully.

When one person became especially loud, even standing up to wave his papers around excitedly and slamming his fist in front of a disagreeing colleague, Ino cut in. "It's an interesting idea, Mr. Jones," she said calmly, "But who exactly are designing for? Our research clearly shows that our target population is from the early twenties to the mid thirties for this product." With that, the man mumbled a response and sat. Ino smiled kindly. "I do like your idea, but perhaps it is better suited for another project. Could you please submit a proposal for applications of your design to other products?"

One by one, Ino addressed each design plan the people in the room had thrown out. Shikamaru was amazed at how quickly everyone had settled down, each wearing a slightly guilty look. For each person, Ino briskly scolded the idea flaws, praised the brilliant points, and suggested either alternatives or improvements. To one girl, she shook her head gently, ruthlessly telling her to start over. The girl looked defiant, but nodded.

"And what do you have for me?" Ino was smiling brightly, her attention at a dark-haired boy who Shikamaru recognized, with annoyance, as that new boy, Sai.

"Well…" Sai spoke softly with a smile that seemed endlessly pasted on. Everyone seemed to be listening with rapt attention, Ino especially. Ino had nattered relentlessly to Chouji and Shikamaru the first week Sai had come in, praising his amazing designs and gorgeous portfolio and oh-em-gee such a cute smile and hot body. She'd finally stopped, after forever, it seemed to Shikamaru, but it looked like she still was in rapture with this new designer of hers. Shikamaru scowled.

He had to admit, grudgingly, that Sai's designs and ideas were very brilliant. Everyone else was nodding in agreement; even that girl who had glared at Ino defiantly was taking notes from his ideas. After Sai finished talking, Ino nodded in approval. She proceeded to collect various outlines for ideas, then walked them through different requests that had come through the main department, finally closing the meeting with a strict directions on what needed to be done and a soft _thank you_ to all. She walked out, with her creative team behind in heavy discussion, Shikamaru and Temari following behind.

...

"That was almost worse than our official board meetings," Shikamaru complained to Ino. Ino giggled.

"My creative team is more excitable than the rest. You know artistic folks. The really crazy one is the advertising team, they're _loud_." Ino sighed happily. "It's a good thing Sai came in, everyone listens to him. And his ideas are great for others to follow off of, he really keeps them together."

"Why did you let them get so out of hand in the beginning, then?" questioned Temari. Ino blinked. Temari had formed it as a question, but it felt more as a demand. "You were able to quiet them down easily when you interjected; everyone clearly respected your opinion." Was that..._admiration_ in Temari's voice? Ino felt herself straighten up with pride.

"Well, when I tried that way before, you know, setting up heavy rules and meeting procedures beforehand, it didn't really work too well," Ino admitted. "At first, since I'm younger than most of them, they weren't very happy to listen to me. Even when they started respecting my opinions, no matter how hard I worked at to having a calm, discussion-orientated atmosphere, it would always degrade into a shouting match." Ino grinned.

"My theory is that they are so annoyed with being creative all the time, that they have to let out their stress somehow. So I let them do their shouting first, then when we get down to business, they're actually calmer. I never let them get too aggressive, of course." Ino's voice turned serious. "Also, this doesn't work for every group." Temari glanced at Ino sharply. "If you sit at a meeting with another team, they will not work with that strategy. I learned that the hard way." Ino looked embarrassed. "I'm afraid I ran into a lot of trouble with that…it took me way too long to be able to establish productive meetings with each of my times, and sometimes they still don't go well."

You're doing great, thought Shikamaru fiercely. He of all people knew the statistics, after Ino starting running marketing, sales went up nearly 15%. He felt an enormous sense of pride.

...

The rest of the morning was very similar, only not in a business setting. Ino ran between different groups within her department, collecting completed proposals, checking on progress, chiding, praising, bossing, and giving out strict orders. An hour before lunch, Ino returned to her office, only to be accosted by her assistants with piles of paperwork. She looked doubtfully at Temari. "I don't mind if you want to sit in the office with me, but for now all I'll be doing is all this paperwork…"

"I understand." Temari smiled slightly. "I want to question some people in your department, if that's okay with you?"

"Of course!" Ino smiled brightly in return. Well, well, well. Looks like that girl could actually smile! "If you have any problems, feel free to yell for help." Temari left the office, carefully flipping her notebook to a fresh page. Shikamaru remained at the door, watching Ino. "What do you want?" Ino asked, frowning. "Shouldn't you be going with her?"

Shikamaru didn't answer. He merely walked to her desk and started playing with her stapler.

"Stop that!" Ino reached for her stapler. He grinned lazily and kept it out of her reach. Ino huffed in annoyance, grimly starting on her paperwork. She felt him watching her, and found she could not concentrate. After a moment of silence, she pushed her paperwork away. "What are you doing for lunch?"

"What?"

"What do you mean what, I asked you what you're doing for lunch." Ino could feel heat creeping up in her cheeks. "I haven't seen you in so long, do you want to get lunch together? Sakura won't mind. I'm sure we can get Chouji to come, too, even if he has a different schedule." She looked up at him. He was watching her intently. "What is it?" she snapped. "Stop staring at me, moron, and answer the question!"

To her dismay, he shook his head. "I'm sorry. Temari and I get lunch together. She likes to discuss what she's observed in the morning, while I answer any of the questions she never asked." He scowled. "Remember? Tsunade ordered me to accompany her every moment of the workday."

"That doesn't mean you have to go with her at _lunch_." Or afternoon break for that matter, Ino thought sullenly. "Fine then," she growled, turning back to her paperwork. "Get out. I can't concentrate with you in the room." She heard him shift uncomfortably, and absolutely refused to look up when he put her stapler back on her desk.

"I'll see you later, then." When the door clicked closed behind him, Ino thought she felt a similar sound in her heart.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** The Office, Part 4/?

**Author:** meepers369

**Summary:** AU. Ino can't help but feel miffed regarding Shikamaru's duty to escort the Chicago representative around the office.

...

...

...

Sakura watched Ino, amused. She requires careful handling today, thought Sakura. Or, I could just needle her until she comes out with it. Sakura grinned. That method always brought out more interesting results.

"So…how was your morning?"

Ino merely grunted. Oh my, thought Sakura. This was serious.

"Did Temari come by?"

"Yes." Ino stabbed her salad furiously. "Along with that no-good, fern-watching, lazy-bum Shikamaru!"

Interesting. Rather than being jealous over Temari, Ino was madder over Shikamaru. "What did he do?"

"Nothing." Ino slammed her fist against the table. "Which is all that he _ever _does! He might take Temari around to all the places, but that's _it_. Temari's the one asking questions and taking notes, Temari's the one who really does the following, Temari is the one touring the company! All _he_ does is sit there with an incredibly stupid look on his face. Why does he need to follow her around everywhere if all he's doing is watching _her_? Doesn't he have his OWN work to do?" Ino returned to stabbing her salad. "He's eating _lunch_ with her right now. Why the hell does he need to be with her for _that?_ It's not like she's doing any observational work by _eating_!"

So there _was_ a slight bit of jealousy. Sakura smiled. "I hear that Temari basically reviews everything that happens in the morning and hounds him about it."

"Well, it would make more sense for her to have lunch with _me_ then!" Ino cried. "I'm the one most qualified to answer her questions about what's she's seen today! She followed me this morning, not him."

Sakura blinked. "I hadn't thought of that." That was interesting. Why was Temari doing this?

"Well maybe you should. And maybe she should think about that, too, so Shikamaru wouldn't have to _abandon_ Chouji and me for afternoon breaks and _reject_ my lunch offer!"

_Ah-ha_!

"What are you grinning about?"

Sakura sipped her tea. Dare she? Sure, why not. "You know the logical conclusion, Ino dear. Temari probably has a crush on Shikamaru."

"Hrmph!" Ino's expression turned absolutely vicious.

"That's the only way it makes sense—"

"I _know_ it makes sense, I'm not stupid!" Ino scowled. Of course Sakura just had to go and point out the obvious. It's not as if Ino hadn't suspected it before, but now that Sakura mentioned it, too…

"Well I think she has awful taste in men. Shikamaru! The only thing he has going for him is his intelligence, and he's so lazy that it hardly shows!"

Sakura laughed. This was getting more interesting than she'd thought it ever would.

...

Shikamaru sneezed. Little luck needed to guess who's talking about me behind my back, he thought wryly. This day was turning out to be troublesome. Things usually did, whenever it involved too much Ino.

He scrolled lazily through the pages of company reports he was supposed to be looking over in lieu of working with the rest of his department. Normally during lunch, he'd be reading attentively trying to make up for lost time carting Temari around, but today he couldn't concentrate. Not that he could concentrate very well normally anyway, with Temari demanding answers to questions he never thought mattered, but today was especially hard when the last time he saw Ino was her disappointed face and her refusal to look at him.

"Shikamaru, I don't understand." Shikamaru gave a long-suffering sigh. Temari, instead of being annoyed as she had the first day, merely looked amused now. "The marketing department's atmosphere is very similar to the Chicago office—fast, quick paced, highly efficient. Yet despite the rush, when I went in, it felt like a highly relaxed atmosphere. Why is that?"

"It's probably because of all the plants," Shikamaru responded, surprising himself. Where did that answer come from?

"The plants?"

"Err…Ino always went on about the psychological benefits of having green in the office. Chouji and I used to meet in at her desk because we got tired of staring at the same things all the time," Shikamaru recalled. "Her flowers were a nice distraction." Not to mention her cheerful smile and teasing conversation. Shikamaru sorely missed that in the last few days, he realized.

"Once promoted to department head, Ino insisted on having them in her department, and not just in reception halls and cliental meeting places. She insisted on having them _everywhere_, in every cubicle and even the _bathrooms._ The idea somehow started catching on." Gai and Lee had, predictably, been ecstatic about the idea after one step into Ino's newly organized office. They promptly went into raptures over her brilliant display of YOUTH and CHEER, praising the brilliance of ETERNAL SPRING to Tsunade until she (annoyed) had portioned a budget for plants and ferns.

"Also, Ino's family owns a flower shop, so there's a bunch of plants that she'd specially bring in for her department. Maybe that's why her area still feels more cheerful than the rest of the office." Another reason why he should visit her more often.

Temari seemed to digest this information carefully. There were a few blissful moments of peace as Shikamaru took another bite of his sandwich.

"You've never talked this much before."

"Uh, really?"

"Usually you limit yourself to the simplest and shortest explanations. Either that, or you redirect my questions at me."

"I didn't even notice," he replied, slightly confused. When did this girl notice so much about the way he talked?

...

After lunch, Ino returned to her office to find her assistants and interns clamoring for her attention. Temari and Shikamaru, she noted sullenly, had not yet returned. Temari can keep Shikamaru with her as long as she wanted, she thought. She scolded an intern more harshly than she normally would have done, and word soon went around the floor that Ms. Ino in one of _those_ moods, that everyone had better be on their best behavior during her afternoon rounds today.

...

When Shikamaru had trudged behind Temari into Ino's office after lunch, Ino had warmly welcomed Temari back in, asking her where she would like to go, what she would like to see, who she would like to talk to, I want to schedule my afternoon around your requests, Temari, no, it's no trouble at all.

Shikamaru looked at Ino suspiciously. She had completely ignored him. No "Hi, Shika!" followed by a bright smile, nor was a simple look thrown his way. She was also using that sickly-sweet tone of voice she usually reserved for people she really didn't like, but still had to please. Like certain customers of her flower shop.

If Temari noticed the change in Ino's demeanor, she didn't show it. Shikamaru watched Ino carefully. What could have changed her so completely during lunch? He trailed after the two blondes, watching one of them with particular attention.

...

Ino gave up being mad with Temari. She just couldn't do it, she admired this girl too much. Temari might ask some strange questions, but she was highly professional, meticulously thorough, and gave valuable insight, even if they were given unsolicited.

She was just a bit too cold, Ino reflected as she earnestly answered Temari's questions. I don't have to warm up to her, but I shouldn't be fake to her, either. And it's none of my business if she likes Shikamaru or not, she thought guiltily.

With that, Ino snuck a glance at Shikamaru. She had refused to talk to look at him all afternoon, feeling nothing but pure anger when he trailed into her office behind Temari, maybe now she would feel better…

Nope. As soon as she saw his slouching figure trailing behind Temari, she felt a flash of...anger? Hurt?

Shikamaru noticed her looking at him. (How? It was only for a second!) He gave an awkward side-smile and a quiet 'hey'. Ino quickly turned back to Temari to answer the next question she had already thrown out to her.

…

A half an hour later, Shikamaru was getting exasperated. Ino had said not one word to him, even when he experimentally gave her a smile compounded with a quiet 'hey'. She merely turned and spoke to Temari, explaining the little things that came to Temari's attention.

At least she wasn't using that sugary-sweet customer voice anymore, Shikamaru thought. But he still couldn't help but feel annoyed that she wouldn't even _look_ at him, for goodness sake, what in the world did he do? He couldn't wait until afternoon break so that he could corner her and make her talk to him. Temari could do without him for one day.

...

Ino could feel him staring at her the whole afternoon. She absolutely refused to look at him. At least Temari was here to distract her. She couldn't wait until her usual afternoon break, when Temari and her stupid shadow could leave and do whatever it is that kept him away from their sacred meeting time with Chouji.

...

Shikamaru was getting Very Very Annoyed. When he mentioned that he'd be going to afternoon break with her today, Ino looked appalled. Shouldn't she be happy? He was sure that she would appreciate the fact that he, you know, wanted to go because he really Missed Them Very Much and was sure that she (and Chouji, of course) missed him, too. Temari had looked surprised at his wish to change their usual plans, only nodded gracefully.

When afternoon break came and Temari left to do her usual reports, Shikamaru tried to accompany Ino to their usual meeting place. However, the dratted sneaky girl slipped off using the excuse of "Need the bathroom, go on ahead," only to never show up until the very last second, when she waved cheerfully—to Chouji, only Chouji!—and apologized—to Chouji, definitely not looking at him—saying, sorry, I had unexpected business, we'll talk tomorrow, okay?

This was getting ridiculous.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** The Office, Part 5/?

**Author:** meepers369

**Summary:** AU. Ino can't help but feel miffed regarding Shikamaru's duty to escort the Chicago representative around the office.

…

…

...

"Hey." Ino looked up at the intrusion, then immediately looked back down. It was Shikamaru. She grunted in response. The floor was dark now, except for the lone light in her office. It suited him to be in the shadows, she thought bitterly. She wondered briefly how he was alone.

"Um…I came to say thanks for taking Temari around your department today."

"Tell Temari that she's very welcome." Shikamaru growled angrily at this response, but Ino merely continued to sort through her papers. Silence reigned for a few minutes as Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably in front of Ino's desk.

"Do you always stay this late?"

Ino debated not answering the question, just to prove to him that she was still Very Annoyed. Shikamaru frowned at her silence. She gave up. After all, Daddy always cautioned never to let anger get in the way of being polite.

"No, only when there's extra paperwork. I'm supposed to fill out some evaluation forms for Tsunade regarding Temari."

Another long silence. Shikamaru looked out the window, noting with a frown the darkening sky.

"Where's Tenten? Don't you two usually go home together?"

"She's in Atlanta, some conference." Ino paused. "Where's Temari? Don't you usually take her home?"

"What?" Where in the world did Ino come up with that idea? "That's not true. I only took her home on her first day."

Ino grunted. So it was true…even if it was only on the first day. Looks like the rumor wasn't completely all gossip. She finished filling out her papers with a low sigh, then stacked them together in one neat pile.

"I'm leaving."

"I'll take you home." Shikamaru's response was fast, almost automatic.

"No…that's fine. I'm not a child, I can go home alone." Shikamaru shook his head.

"It's not safe, you'll be taking the public transport alone. I'll take you home."

Ino opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it. He lived almost forty-five minutes away from her on a good traffic day. If he wanted to waste his oh-so-valuable time giving her a ride home, why not?

"Alright, but only if I get to hook my ipod up to your radio."

...

"Do you _have_ to listen to this song?" Shikamaru should have known better. Of _course_ the songs Ino likes would give him a headache. "Don't you get _tired_ of it? It's on every day, at least ten times!"

"Shush. It's a _good_ song, that's why it's on all the time." Ino felt her earlier anger quickly melting away. She was getting a ride home, Shikamaru was annoyed, Lady Gaga was being blared from his car…was there any reason that she shouldn't be dancing? She started dancing. Shikamaru groaned.

"You can't even tell what she's saying. What's the point of a song where you can't even tell what the words are?"

"What are you, deaf? You can hear perfectly what she says. Je veux ton amour, Et je veux ta revanche…"

Shikamaru groaned. "Yeah, okay. Of course that mumbo-jumbo _was English. _What is it, Scandinavian?"

"It's FRENCH, Mr. Genius. Fine then, you can choose the next song."

"Here. Choose any song you like."

"Ooo, your iPhone. Are you sure you trust me with this? Ha! You don't even have it locked? That's bad, anyone could mess with it you know."

"Eh, too troublesome."

"Typical. You would think it's too troublesome." Ino began scrolling through the band names, laughing at the selection, making fun of the strangely named ones. "…Aqualung? What kind of name is that? Is that supposed to be clever? A watery lung? Are they mermaids?"

"Will you just choose a song!"

"I've never heard of any of these bands! Oh wait, Dashboard Confessional, hold on…"

Shikamaru let out a long sigh as Ino's chattering ceased into a blissful humming. He relaxed, humming along , too. Until Ino let out a suspicious giggle. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Ino carefully tapped at the screen, changing to another song. "Just looking at your songs." Shikamaru watched her from the corner of his eye scrolling down the screen. She would scroll, tap, then giggle, scroll, tap, and laugh.

"What is so funny?"

"Your songs! You have either bands who no one has ever heard of, or oldies that no one listens to anymore!" Shikamaru groaned, resisting the urge to rub his temples while driving.

"Can we not talk about my song choices?" Ino pouted at him. Shikarmaru glared at her the best he could while still keeping an eye on the road. He gave up. It was too hard to do both, especially when Ino doing that cutesy lowered head pout thing. He casually shifted his attention to stare determinedly at the road.

Ino smirked. She returned to playing with his iPhone. She exited to the main menu, finger hovering over the email app. After a moment's hesitation, she clicked on it. "Locked?" Ino burst out. She blushed as Shikamaru raised a lazy eyebrow at her.

"I'm not _that_ lazy to let people have access to sensitive information." Inner Shikamaru cheered, pumped his fists, and patted himself on the back. It felt _so good_ to beat Ino. "My messages are locked, too, if you were wondering," he offered. Ino merely huffed. She continued scrolling through his iPhone nevertheless.

"No games? Don't tell me you're too lazy to even download games!" Shikamaru's stubborn and sullen silence answered the question for her. "Well, hope you don't mind me downloading Tap Tap, at least…" Shikamaru thought to protest, but thought better of it, and sighed. Arguing with Ino was much too troublesome. It was much easier just to go along with her ridiculous actions. Shikamaru grimly prepared himself for the end result of his iPhone overloaded with three pages of apps.

Soon, the car's silence was filled with music _and_ the constant in-rhythm tapping noises of Ino's carefully manicured nails on the iPhone touchscreen. Among Ino's happy humming and random outbursts, Shikamaru somehow felt right at home.

...

"Alright, we're here. Leave my poor iPhone alone and get out." Ino held onto it, pouting, then stuck her tongue out at him and carefully leaned it in his cup holder. Shikamaru had the sudden urge to offer her the iPhone, to say-_something_, were they really alright again? Just like that, a whole day's untold-reason-angry-silent-treatment, gone in one car ride? He looked for signs of her anger, her annoyance, something he'd memorized unconsciously over the years.

Ino slipped out of the car, humming the remnants of the last song she was listening to, aware that Shikamaru was watching her, looking for signs of _something_. "I'm not annoyed or angry, you know. You don't have to be so wary." She said it with her hands on her hips, the image of annoyance. Her eyes were soft, though. Shikamaru relaxed and let a lazy grin take over his face.

"Be careful on your way up," Shikamaru said gruffly. He left, careful not to give into the urge to turn back and wave while leaving.

...

Ino watched him drive away, wondering at how easily her anger of the day dissipated in one car ride home without any real words. Really, she couldn't remember why she was angry anymore.

…

…

…

**Notes:** This chapter, when I began writing it, occurred with Lady GaGa playing in the background. Thus her kind musical influence. (I figured Ino would be the type to enjoy her _interesting_ style, too.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** The Office, Part 6/?

**Author:** meepers369

**Summary:** AU. Ino can't help but feel miffed regarding Shikamaru's duty to escort the Chicago representative around the office.

…

…

...

In the next few days, very little changed. Shikamaru still took Temari around the office, who continued sitting in on various meetings with her little black notebook and asking piercing questions. Ino didn't see Temari much except for the occasional meeting in the hallway.

She noticed, however, that Shikamaru seemed to be hanging around her department more. He still didn't come to their afternoon sojourns with Chouji, nor did he ever bring up her lunch invitation, nor did he stay late to offer her a ride home again, but he would stop by occasionally while she was working. Sometimes, he was silent and would only nod when she looked at him, but other times he would stop and chat with her. One morning, he actually complimented her work. "I saw the report. Congrats on the new product launch," he said casually. "You did good work." Ino was so surprised that she merely stared at him without saying anything for a few seconds. She felt a big grin working its way onto her face, and remembered her manners.

"Thank you," she said, smiling brightly. Shikamaru nodded awkwardly, then hastily walked away.

…

To his chagrin, Shikamaru began realizing how little time he got to see Ino around the office, and that he actually _cared_ about not seeing her. Without being able to have his usual afternoon meet-ups with Chouji and Ino, he hardly saw either of them. This was a stark contrast to childhood, when the three of them were always together, whether they wanted to be or not.

So Shikamaru would casually drop into Ino's department when he didn't have to take Temari around. The Temari girl didn't need him with him, not really, but she nevertheless insisted he accompany her wherever she went. It was getting slightly annoying, but the quiet, _disappointed _look she would give him cowed him in a way not unlike Ino's fierce glare would make him feel. Nevertheless, in his sparing gaps of free time, he would casually pass by Ino's department, which would always happen to be on his way to Chouji's office. He would watch Ino scold an unwitting intern, seeing overlapping memories of himself and Chouji scolded in the same way, but softened into the current, adult Ino.

...

"May I present our next company social," boomed Gai to a room full of company employees, interns, managers, and a haggered-looking Tsunade. "The winter Semi-Formal Formal! The theme will be…" pausing for dramatic effect, Gai happily savored the expectant faces, gleeful at their sure-to-be enthusiasm and YOUTHFUL reactions…

"…HAREBELLS!"

At the word, Lee excitedly jumped on top of the table, wearing of all things, bunny ears. Even his usual green spandex was white. Gai stood beside him, flashing his unending grin and shoved a thumbs-up to the crowd. As if on cue, the rest of the social committee began ringing tiny bells.

Everyone gaped. Just when you thought you finally got used to them, they come up behind you and surprise you with a good kick to the frontal lobe...

"Does this mean everything is going to be RABBIT themed?" called out a loud voice crossly.

"Very astute of you!" Gai beamed at the young intern. Surely his loudness was a sign of his enthusiasm! "In fact, it is doubly themed! A clever wordplay, bringing in the hare from the Chinese zodiac calendar, the bells as a effervescent symbol of winter!"

"And the overall word sounding like _hairballs_?" A few snickers following the snide comment were silenced when Lee nodded enthusiastically.

"Wow! I didn't even think of that! Gai, our semi-formal Formal is going to have to be TRIPLE THEMED now! We must plan for this new clever angle!" The commenter looked appalled, the others around him laughed nervously. You just can't win with those two. Hares and bells, the company could take in stride, but _hairballs_?

"The date is set for Saturday next! We hope you can enjoy this weekend to plan and impress us with suitably themed costumes-"

"-COSTUMES?" cried another unwitting intern before those around him shushed him and laughed quietly at his outraged expression...

"-of which, our department will of course have numerous suggestions! However, please keep in mind that this is a semi-formal Formal, which means you will need to dress PG." Gai glanced severely at Kakashi, who merely blinked one eye innocently back.

"Also, this semi-formal Formal will double a farewell party to our lovely Miss Temari, who will be returning to the windy city of Chicago!" Lee's bunny's ears seemed to actually droop as he made this statement. Everyone whipped their heads to look at her, who seemed faintly embarrassed by all the sudden attention. Lee's ears seemed to perk up and…waggle? "We have, of course, a surprise prepared for her!" Everyone immediately took out their iPhones, Blackberries, Androids, and antiquated notebook planners to input a reminder. When Lee and Gai threw a party, threw a party, it was worth it to go, even if it was strangely-themed. Particularly if it was strangely themed. Stories from the paper-mache party still was a popular topic around the break room; saying the word "balloons" with the proper pitch and intonation could melt a somber meeting into hearty laughter.

And if there was going to be a _surprise_ involved…well, that guaranteed everyone's attendance.

...

Chouji found Ino consoling her interns. "No, you don't actually have to wear costumes. That's normally just a Lee-and-Gai thing," she soothed one skeptical intern. "Just wear what you'd normal wear to a semi-formal. A suit, nice dress…preferably find a good date…"

"And prepare to be spectacularly entertained," added Chouji, grinning wildly, jingling lightly.

"Chouji!" Ino grinned happily back. "Why are you jingling?"

"I'm here to deliver your invitation, ho ho ho. They have to be appreciated in person, we put may too much work into making these." Chouji reached into his bag and handed one to everyone present. Each invitation was simply beautiful, a calligraphic rabbit serving as the background, and a tiny bell attached by a silver ribbon on top.

"Some of us like to collect these invitations since they're so beautiful," admitted Ino to her interns, who were wonderingly jingling their invitation. "And you can be sure there will be good food, since Chouji's family is catering…"

"Of course!" Chouji's grin took on a dreamy look.

"But really Chouji, hairballs?"

…

Temari actually looked nervous, Shikamaru realized. When Chouji had stopped by to deliver their invitations, she had been stiffer than usual in thanking him. She had been graver than normal when she predictably questioned Chouji regarding the event, the expectations, and the choosing of the theme. When Chouji left looking a little dazed at the barrage of questions, Shikamaru could detect a faint sense of tension around Temari. He sighed loudly.

"If you're worried about Lee and Gai forcing some ridiculous hairball costume on you, don't worry. They're harmless. Usually."

Temari smiled slightly. She still looked apprehensive. Well, he did his consoling-by-cheering up part. Women were just too troublesome. They sat in silence, each sifting through their respective notes and paperwork.

"You'll escort me to this semi-formal, of course," stated Temari to the silence, rather loudly. Shikamaru looked up from his papers, startled.

"What?" Escort? Like a date? Is that what a semiformal entailed? Shikamaru groaned to himself. Of course something as troublesome as finding a _date_ would come up. But here, Temari was asking for him to be an escort. He could be an escort. It was what he'd been doing all these days anyway. An escort wasn't something that would set off annoying things like rumors and stupid gossip, like a _date_ would. Though he had been uncomfortably aware of the beginnings of gossip by certain silly giggles the intern girls would let out whenever the two passed by together. Maybe even being an escort wasn't safe. Maybe he better tell this girl, no, can't do it, not going to this thing at all.

Temari, meanwhile, took his silence as agreement. "Good. You'll have to come help me find proper attire for this event, though. I didn't bring anything like this. This way, I can ensure that we will match." Shikamaru gaped at her. _Matching?_ Wait, this was sounding more like a date! And he didn't agree yet! He would agree to be an escort, but not a date. If he was supposed to get a date for this stupid thing, he would want…

"Pick me up Sunday morning at 10? We can probably finish by dinner." Temari looked at him with such a fierce look that he automatically nodded. In response, Temari revealed a soft, shy smile that looked almost out of place in her fierce persona. Shikamaru felt almost…well, felt something, at least. "See you then." With a final nod, Temari strode out of the office, leaving behind a very confused Shikamaru. Somehow, he felt as lost as a 16-year old boy, going to his first prom.

…

Meanwhile, two hallways down, a certain blonde was cheerfully skipping to his destination. It's going to happen today, he knew. He could feel that today was an auspicious day, that everything was going to work out like he hoped for.

"No Naruto, I will not go to the semi-formal with you."

"B-b-but Sakura! I didn't even ask yet!" With one menacing look, the pink-haired girl sent Naruto into retreat. So maybe today wasn't so auspicious. Another day, then.

…

…

…

**Note:** Thank you everyone for being so patient! I know I'm not the best with updating, but I've only been managing to be inspired by Naruto and write during my winter break. However, for those of you who treat incomplete stories with apprehensive- never fear, I will see the story to the end, even if it takes me a few years to post the next chapter again. :P


	7. Chapter 7

Tenten sighed as Ino told her what she'd missed when she was away at her conference. "So this semi-formal formal thing…means I'll have to wear a dress? And put on makeup?" Ino giggled at the look of disgust Tenten made at the words _dress_ and _makeup_. "Trust those two to come up with something troublesome like that! Didn't we _just_ have a major party?" Tenten continued to mutter viciously about Lee and Gai and their obsession with "youth" events that required her to wear silly _dresses_ that restricted movement.

"Dress shopping tomorrow?" Ino asked, with a hopeful look.

"Do I have to? Tomorrow is my day to _relax_, Ino."

"Okay, okay. I'll see if Sakura is free to come with instead."

…

She wasn't, and so Ino found herself dress shopping alone at the mall. Which wouldn't bother her, normally, given that she could browse at her own leisure and sneak into the gardening and flower shops without boring anyone, but shopping for dresses had the unfortunate side effect of leaving one helpless with zippers. After the fourth frustrating incident with an unobliging zipper and the very unpleasant attendant who helped her out of the cloth trap, Ino headed to the food court. She knew she should probably be thinking along the lines of _Too fat to fit into dresses! Go on a diet!_ But Daddy always said high stress levels are worse for the body, and when it came to relieving stress, food did the job.

As Ino walked to the food court, she could swear she saw someone with a Shikamaru-esque pineapple hair bobbing in the crowd ahead of her. She almost called out to it, too, except it disappeared into a Forever 21. Nope. Not Shikamaru. Ino giggled at the mental image of Shikamaru browsing through Forever 21, where hordes of women were sure to be at their nastiest.

…

Shikamaru was aghast. He did not really understand how he came to be at a mall. In a Forever 21. This hadn't happened since his last girlfriend in college dragged him here to compare two suspiciously similar-looking coats. The girl had been his favorite type, kind, docile, wonderfully normal and obliging in every way, except for the alarming inability to choose between two nearly identical pieces of clothing.

"Why couldn't you just send me a picture of your dress, and let me find a tie that matched?" Shikamaru was woefully miserable, an armful of clothing coming dangerously close to interfering with his walking. Temari only laughed.

"You're here already, aren't you?" Temari sifted through yet another rack of dresses. To Shikamaru's amusement and horror, Temari was just as painfully observant and critical with dresses as she had been in the office. She would shuffle through an excessive array of dresses, then discard each one after meticulously examining ever little detail, from the collar to the stitches to the zipper.

Shikamaru sighed, glancing idly in the direction of the food court. Oh, what he would do to escape and go to that wonderful restaurant with the barbecue in the middle of the table with Chouji and Ino...

…

To Ino's pleasure, she ran into Chouji at the food court. He was, unsurprisingly, just about to go into that restaurant with the barbecue in the middle of the table where_-when Shikamaru was still around_-the three would sneak off to eat lunch occasionally. Most interestingly, there was a cute little thing next to him, holding on to his arm in a shy, but adoring way.

"Chouji!" she called out. He turned, and the girl by his side turned, too. She gave a quiet, uncertain smile. Absolutely adorable. Chouji was going to hear it for hiding this girl from her.

"Not surprised to see you here," Chouji grinned. "Amy, this is Ino. She's the one I told you about, our parents are good friends. Ino, this is Amy - she's the new confectioner our family hired!"

"Nice to meet you!" Ino smiled brightly at the Amy. The three spent the next few minutes chatting pleasantly, and when Chouji invited Ino to eat with them, she accepted eagerly. Throughout lunch, Ino cajoled Amy out of her shyness, sharing stories of childhood Shika-Ino-Cho (the ones that involved Chouji as the hero, of course). Amy was the perfect audience, gasping, laughing, and even clapping in excitement in all the right places. Ino was charmed by her, and as she glanced at Chouji, it appeared so was he. After lunch, they walked together for a while, only to have Chouji distracted by a bakery. Taking the chance to excuse herself and let the two enjoy each other's company, Ino slinked off, satisfied that Chouji finally found himself a wonderful date to take to the company party, and maybe even more parties afterwards.

…

Shikamaru was sitting in the designated men's area of the store, sharing the seats with other bone-weary men beleaguered with shopping bags of various colors and sizes, waiting for their female to emerge. He sighed and yawned at the same time, cursing the damn ceilings for blocking his view of the clouds. When Temari finally emerged, however, the small glow of satisfaction on her normally composed face somehow soothed everything. She looked so pleased with herself that when she lightly put her hand on his arm, he didn't have the heart to shake her off, instead took her bags and followed her to the next store.

...

So it's an understatement to say that after parting ways from Chouji and Amy only to see Shikamaru coming of out some high-class chic store with Temari hanging on to his arm, Ino felt like the sky fell out of her world. Actually, it was more like the sky decided to chuck the sun and the moon at her face so that she couldn't see anything but white, then splintered into a trillion pieces that rained around her haphazardly, with the earth trying its best to center all its gravitational pull upon her heart so that it sank deeper than the leviathan from the dark dregs of the ocean. Ino's mind flipped through a million pages of those cheesy romance novels that she spend rainy afternoons reading, trying to find the appropriate reaction to the scene she was seeing before her, but instead of bursting into tears like those useless heroines, Ino couldn't even muster up her feelings to cry. Instead, she just felt empty. The initially loud, adrenaline-charged thumping of that little monster in her chest slowed to a dull, throbbing ache.

Ino stalked away, not quite ignoring but also not quite hearing Chouji call out to her in the background.

It's not so bad, Ino told herself. Objectively speaking, Temari wasn't _clinging _to Shikamaru's arm. That would have been disgusting. But for someone as reserved as her, that simple guiding hand on the crook of Shikamaru's arm spoke volumes.

That Shikamaru! To come to the _mall_ of all places. Ino felt the dull emptiness growing into anger, and she found herself absolutely _furious_ with him. To ruin her day at the _mall_. Malls were her _sanctuary_. What was he thinking, accompanying a girl here?! And with Temari! Ino glumly acknowledged to herself that all evidence pointed to Shikamaru taking Temari to the hare-brained company party. Why else would he come shopping. The little sneak! With some dismay, Ino realized that she was full-blown _jealous. _Shikamaru with Temari, going to a company party together.

Ino wondered if she had asked him, or if it was the other way around.

...

It was with some surprise that Sakura opened her door late Sunday afternoon to find an extremely sullen Ino on her doorstep.

"That Shikamaru!" cried Ino, almost stomping into Sakura's door.

"Hello to you, too, Ino-dear," replied Sakura drily. She followed Ino into the living room, whereupon Ino promptly plopped down on the couch and began listing a number of Shikamaru's horrid traits. Lazy, procrastinator, unambitious, irresponsible. "If it wasn't for me, he's still be choking on those cancer sticks and be dying a much sooner, more grisly death." Slouched too much, horribly moody, always sullen and a cloud of gloom. "You know how in all of our childhood pictures, he never smiled? _Once_?! His dad has the happiest grin in the world, his mom the sweetest. He would always look bored. Or grim. Would it kill him to just _smile_?!" No taste in clothes, unambitious, wouldn't commit to a thing unless his life depended on it. "That huge party we had a while back that he escorted me to...wearing a blatantly unmatching tie, then disappearing when I turn my back for two seconds to sleep on the roof!"

Sakura finally couldn't hold it. She burst out laughing. "Sorry, sorry. Can you _please_ tell me what happened?"

Ino glared at Sakura. "I saw him. At the mall. With Temari." Sakura's mouth formed an understanding "o."

"Ino, I'm so-"

"I was going to ask him to escort me to the formal. Now I'm all without a date and it's _next week!_" Ino sighed. "I guess it's us single girls out again, eh?"

"Urrm…" Sakura turned away, looking embarrassed. "Actually, I'm going with Sasuke…"

"WHAT?!"

"I was going to tell you today if you hadn't come over first!" Sakura said hurriedly. "We were having lunch and it sorta kinda just happened."

"Oh." Ino was sitting very, very still. "Good for you. I'm glad it finally worked out for you." The two sat for a moment in silence.

"Well! Was your dress shopping successful? If not, I think I might have the perfect one for you!" Sakura hurriedly rushed to her room. "Tsunade gave me this dress. Here, try it on…"

"_Tsunade_ gave you this ?" Ino exclaimed incredulously. Sakura grinned, helping Ino zipper it on.

"I got more than the normal benefits from working directly under her. It didn't fit her anymore."

"I guess not!" Ino examined herself in the dress. It was a gorgeous, and most definitely made for someone a _much_ smaller size than Tsunade. The neckline, however, was definitely Tsunade's style. "You sure you don't want it?"

"Take it. The blue's really not good for me, anyway. You look amazing in it. You would look better if you had more of a chest to hold it up."

"That's rich coming from you, Forehead Girl."

…

Ino wondered if it was very childish of her to be so easily appeased by a very pretty dress, but it did look stunning on her. For a while, her spirits were much higher. She modeled in front of the mirror, trying to get excited about wearing the gown. The rich blue brought out the color in her eyes perfectly, and despite Sakura's teasing, the low neckline was just enough that it was flattering, not slutty.

It was also the perfect match for that tie she bought Shikamaru eons ago, when he got his promotion. He grumbled about the color, he preferred _green _or _black_, but Ino told him to shut up and take it, he needed more color in his life.

Now it looks like he got that extra flare of color, with Temari. Shikamaru and Temari. Sakura and Sasuke? Shikamaru and _Temari. _Her happiness from gaining The Perfect Dress shrank. _Shikamaru_ and Temari. She wondered why she felt so strongly about this possible budding relationship.

It wasn't as if Shikamaru hadn't dated other girls before. Certainly Ino had been even guilty of setting Shikamaru up with dates who, in her mind, fit his often-rattled list regarding _The Ideal Girl_. There was the quiet, doey-eyed girl in high school for a few years, only to be separated by the huge distance between their respective colleges. There was that short summer fling with the adorably shy but fantastic cook who worked briefly at Chouji's family bakery. (She left after they broke up.) There were a few other office girls who Ino had met over the years, all quiet, unassuming, with innocent smiles and a range of household skills designed to impress Shikamaru. But the relationships never lasted long, and with unease Ino realized that she could never remember any of their names. They were just all so normal and _boring_. Exactly Shikamaru's type.

Temari, on the other hand, was a character. Her sharp personality and strong mind, her calm unsmiling demeanor, and her usual ...lack of femininity was a stark contrast to the past girls Shikamaru had ever dated. Her bossiness with Shikamaru almost paralleled the treatment Ino gave him. For the first time, Ino felt _threatened. _

Did this mean she was jealous? After all, she's certainly dated many guys without giving a single thought to Shikamaru. With a feeling nearing some sort of panic, Ino recalled her past boyfriends and how they fit her idea of the perfect guy. Dashingly handsome, somewhat brooding, with a unique talent in music or other delights, her boyfriends were great dates and wonderful eye candy. But they could never keep up with her moodiness and neediness, in the end Ino would be left heartbroken and crying in Sakura's room or in front of the boys. After the tears and the weeks of crying and resentment, she would cheer up and realize it would be okay because they never seemed to be just right anyway. They always seemed to be missing that element of comfort, with whom she could feel pretty and exciting even without her makeup, and she could comfortably break down and sob in her ugly blotchy way. She never felt judged or ashamed when crying or looking ugly in front of Shikamaru and Chouji.

Ino giggled a little at this line of thought. When they were young and she used to cry over her latest heartbreak, Shikamaru was so bad at the comforting part. It would always be Chouji who sat patiently by her side and let her sob it out, while Shikamaru looked away and pretend she was being annoying. Over the years, though, Shikamaru learned from Chouji to sit and let her cry, a patient and comforting presence when she needed it the most.

With a small sigh, Ino resigned herself to the fact that she had been taking all her friendships very much for granted. With Sakura finally succeeding with Sasuke and Chouji finding the cutest little girl and Temari clearly after Shikamaru, Ino never felt so alone.

...

...

...

**AN: **What a hiatus! When I started this piece, I had just started college. Now I've graduated. I'm going to try my best to finish this beast, so thanks to all for being patient!


	8. Chapter 8

Shikamaru was again, inexplicably suffering from Ino's amazing ability to ignore and avoid him at all turns. On Monday he was casually strolling by her office, intent on inviting her and Chouji to that amazing restaurant with a barbecue in the table for lunch, but she merely flashed him a quick smile before hurrying off with some interns. The day continued with many harried and lame excuses for being busy, until at one point where he was driven in circles by her giggling hench(wo)men. Dear lord, he hated how easily girls giggled. This was a _professional workspace_. You think people would have better things to do than be amused by a frustrated man, all the while keeping Ino away from him.

When he could see her face-to-face, she would be all polite smiles and quick excuses to get away. He almost wanted her to yell at him the way she usually would when he did something wrong, but the most emotion he got was a small forced smile.

…

Ino decided the best way to avoid thinking about Shikamaru and her constant _hurt _was to avoid him. Annoyingly, he seemed intent on hunting her down today. Her darling associates, though, seemed to pick up on her intent to avoid Shikamaru, and helped her with it. (She could tell they found it amusing. It wasn't often that you could get Shikamaru worked up like this.)

It was hard, though, to keep up her politeness and a frozen exterior to Shikamaru. She couldn't help but feel sad and drained whenever she saw the pineapple head followed by a bobbing of four miniature blonde ones. So maybe she threw herself into the work harder than usual, and took on a tad bit more of the projects than delegating as she usually did, but it helped her avoid confronting a nasty set of emotions that she really didn't want to think about.

…

Shikamaru, as many would characterize, is a genius. So he took the hint. He stopped trying to look for Ino. (Temari also kept asking where he was popping to so much, and for some reason he felt like hiding it from her. Odd. ) He found Chouji instead, wonderful, reasonable, jolly Chouji who was never without a smile and had insights that would hopefully ease his pain.

"Ino's ignoring me," he muttered grumpily. "Again."

In response, Chouji merely grinned. The traitor. Even his best friend enjoyed laughing at his misery.

"I can tell you for certain that _I did nothing_. I haven't seen her enough these weeks to do anything. She's not even _angry_ at me, she's just _ignoring me. _I detect zero anger. But she is still ignoring me. _For no reason._"

In response, Chouji nodded gravely. And continued to pull his next victim from a bag of potato chips.

"Can't you _say _something? Do you know what's wrong?" Shikamaru very much wanted to throttle someone right now, but all Chouji would do was chew. Chew chew munch munch.

"I'm seeing a new girl." Chouji finally spoke, and with pride.

"Oh? Is this the new confectioner you hired?" Shikamaru smirked at Chouji's slight blush. As if Chouji could hide anything from him!

"Amy. She's great. I'm taking her to the formal semi-formal!"

Shikamaru smiled at Chouji's pleasure. Then he scowled. "You're leading away from the topic. Why is Ino avoiding me?" Chouji merely smiled.

"Amy and I went on a date. The usual kind of thing. We watched a movie." Chouji casually continued as if Shikamaru hadn't mentioned anything. "We walked around after. Ran into Ino. Invited Ino to lunch with us. We went to the restaurant with the wonderful grill in the middle!" Chouji beamed at Shikamaru, who merely stared. "After lunch, walked around some more. Ino left us when Amy and I went into a bakery. Walked around some more. Saw Ino again, but she looked extremely upset. She walked away before I could catch up with her. Saw _you_," here Chouji paused and looked meaningfully at Shikamaru, "You were strolling out of some high end shop with Temari on the crook of your arm. You walked away before I said hi. Walked around some more with Amy. Took Amy home. We're going out again this weekend!"

At the end of his statement, Chouji smiled brightly returned to picking off his chips, one by one. Shikamaru gaped at Chouji.

"You-Ino-what? You guys SAW?" Chouji merely munched on his chips. Shikamaru groaned. "Why didn't you warn me! Say hi to me? I'm never going to live this down!"

"Yeah, who knew you actually liked malls!" Chouji chirped. Shikamaru glared at him. Chouji had a suspicious smirk on his face.

"I just didn't want Ino to see…" Shikamaru mumbled. Chouji grinned. Shikamaru frowned. "But she was unhappy? That means...that..." Chouji merely continued working on his chips. Chew chew munch munch. Shikamaru didn't notice the munching much anymore. He continued mutter hesitantly. "That sounds a lot like - I mean, I'm not trying to be an ass or anything - but it sounds a lot like she's jealous." Chew chew munch stop. Stare. Shikamaru looked back at Chouji, aghast. "But Ino doesn't get jealous like this _quiet awkward smiley way_! She usually yells and huffs about it. To us. And maybe cries. If she was really serious about it."

"She looked almost as if she was in tears," offered Chouji. Chew much chew. Shikamaru watched the chips disappear, one at a time.

Well, this was a neat little tangle. This could not be solved easily. Yet somehow, knowing Ino was jealous made him feel a lot happier than before.

…

Shikamaru was mulling over these new set of revelations, almost hoping for something to take his mind off of them when Temari interrupted his thoughts.

"I have something important to discuss with you." Temari's voice was calm and serious, more so than usual. Shikamaru snapped out of his thoughts and turned to pay full attention to her.

"First of all, thank you for coming with me on Saturday. It was great having someone there, while I am still unfamiliar with the area…and I had a lot of fun." Temari paused, looking slightly embarrassed.

"My pleasure," responded Shikamaru, not without a little happiness.

Temari smiled. "The main thing I wanted to talk to you about. I've been watching you closely these past few weeks as you've guided me around and shown me your working strategies. I got off the phone yesterday with my brother, who, as you know, is the director of the Chicago branch." Temari paused, and took a deep breath. "He has, after my reports of your abilities, decided to extend you an offer. We are ready to pay double your current salary if you will switch to the Chicago branch."

Shikamaru stared at Temari, stunned. "I don't…"

Temari shook her head. "I know this is sudden and you'll need time to think about it, so you don't need to say anything for now. Just let me know of your decision by the end of this week, before the semi-formal. I'd like to announce your move then, if you take it, too." Watching Shikamaru's expression, Temari smiled gently. "I know this is difficult, since your friends and family are here but...as you can see, we really value your abilities. And I personally would really welcome you joining our branch." The soft smile disappeared as Temari returned to her business voice. "This offer is to be kept strictly confidential, though I've already informed Tsunade of it. You should not need me to tell you to keep your discretion." Temari smiled again. "I've really enjoyed the past few weeks with your company, and needless to say, I'd love to see you join our branch."

As Temari quietly sat down at her temporary desk, all previous thoughts of annoying best friends flew out of Shikamaru's mind. He couldn't think. Double the salary? But Chicago? His family? His friends? Chouji? Ino? But double the salary?

His thoughts wouldn't settle.

…

Ino was watching TV when Tenten came back home, humming to herself. Ino smirked. "Good night with Neji? On a weekday night, too, goodness gracious me." Tenten merely grinned before settling down on the couch next to Ino. They sat chatting over the TV for a bit, until Tenten quieted. After a bit, she spoke up again. "Ino? I have a strange favor to ask you."

"I'm all ears."

"You know Neji's cousin, Hinata? The quiet shy girl? Could you take her to our semi-formal?" Tenten fidgeted, blushing slightly. "Neji would have taken her himself, but then he couldn't spend that much time with me."

Ino smiled. "Of course! I'm out of options anyway, as you know. You've solved a wonderful dilemma for me. Now I don't have to go by myself!" Tenten smiled back.

"Thanks, Ino."

"Can I know why this Hyuuga heiress is so interested in our semi-formal though?"

"Don't tell anyone but...apparently she's interested in Naruto. Neji refuses to tell me everything, but last time I casually mentioned Naruto in front of her she blushed as red as a tomato! It was quite adorable."

"Naruto?!" Tenten laughed at Ino's face. Ino was quiet for a bit, then grinned. "I think I can do better than just taking Hinata to the semiformal. How about I arrange Naruto as a date for her?"

Tenten stared doubtfully at Ino.

"Can you do that? Also, Hinata is extremely, _extremely _shy. I don't know if she'd handle it."

"Don't worry!" said Ino gleefully. "I'll make her night my own special project!"

…

It was an easy enough affair to convince Kiba to go on a double date with Naruto and a mysterious fourth girl to the formal. _Oh my god I get to see Naruto acting awkward in front of a girl for 6 hours YES OF COURSE I'LL GO and YES I'LL MAKE HIM GO we were going to go together as single bros anyway so he has no reason to refuse! _Really, Kiba was like a girl sometimes, the way he got excited about these kind of things. Any material to tease his friends at later time was gold for him. From there, it was a matter of soothing Naruto's bruised ego regarding Sakura and Sasuke to get him to agree to go with a blind date.

She was happily congratulating herself on not only successfully setting Hinata up with her crush but also getting herself a date merely days before the semi-formal when she ran into Shikamaru on her way back to her desk. He looked so shockingly troubled that Ino forgot all her bad feeling towards him.

"Shika! Something wrong?"

He smiled crookedly at her and shook his head. "What, talking to me again?" he commented wryly.

Ino harrumphed. She tried again. "You look like hell. What's wrong?"

Shikamaru gave her a little dismissive wave. "Nothing to worry your pretty little head over."

With that, Shikamaru strolled away, his stoop a little more depressing than usual. Ino was still worried, but now she was angry. She _hated _when the boys pretended nothing was wrong while obviously hiding (or failing to hide) their unhappy feelings. Her daddy always said that men had to have their secrets, but she still did not approve of it.

"Stop hunching, you caveman throwback!" Ino screeched at the retreating figure. Shikamaru stopped briefly and let out an exasperated sigh, but his back straightened.

…

Shikamaru's head felt much clearer. Somehow, after his tiny encounter with Ino, he understood. He understood that he was in denial about the way Temari felt towards him, and he needed to clear that up. He understood that Chouji was a lot more perceptive than he thought. He thought that Sakura probably knew about his offer, thanks to the meetings he had with Tsunade. He knew Sakura would tell Ino because in the end, she was a pretty loyal friend to Ino. He also understood that Ino could read his emotions like no one else could, even as she frustrated him with her little quirks. He understood her quirks were just part of who she was, in addition to being secretly caring and worrying, and he wouldn't have her any other way. And he knew what he was going to do about his offer.

Now it required some careful planning to make things go the right way.

…

Buildings away, Neji stumbled to catch a fainting Hinata. He looked doubtfully at Tenten, who had the honor of being the bearer of probably The Best News Hinata Had Ever Heard. She shrugged. "Hinata will be fine. Ino knows what she's doing." Neji sighed, having a sinking suspicion that his night was going to have a lot less watching Tenten dance and more keeping Hinata from being overly embarrassed than he had hoped.


End file.
